Bowman's Son
by Stormy Feathers
Summary: Essentially, Adrian Potter (Known to the magical world as Harry) is thrown out to sea by Vernon while on vacation. He's brought to Bard, who ends up adopting the poor kid. Has elements of one of my other stories, Depth, and Hetalia. Creature!Harry, Mer!Harry, SLASH, some Bagginshield, and mentions of abuse. Rating may change. Almost M right now, in my eyes.
1. Prologue: Introducing, Adrian

**Well, I was thinking, and this came into being. Uses characters from some of my other works.**

 _Prologue: Introducing, Adrian._

I believe you all know the story, of a baby, who defeated a man terrorizing an entire nation. If you don't, why are you reading this? But I'll explain anyways. This child was attacked by Britain's Dark Lord, the fearsome *idiotic* Voldemort, on All Hallow's Eve, which is more commonly known as Halloween, especially by the children who all dress up and get candy on this particular day. But it was not a bright day of cheer and false ghouls only looking for candy and other treats, for the family that I am thinking of today. No, no sir, they were most certainly not relaxed, although they may have been happy.

No, this family was terrified. They were in hiding, from the evil man that I mentioned before. He had heard of a prophecy, that the one who would defeat him, and end his reign of terror, would be born on the end of July. The child, barely older than a year at the time, that belonged to the family in hiding, had been born almost midnight on July thirty-first. No other children had been born after him, and as such, he seemed to be the one that would be used in the prophecy. Since the prophecy, and as such, their baby, had made them a target to a crazed, hypocritical madman, the family _had_ to go into hiding, or else they would be killed. The family didn't want that. They had a child, and wanted the best for that child.

Now, obviously, this family was not normal. No normal family would believe in prophecies and a 'Dark Lord', unless they had been drinking far too much lately. Or were on certain substances.

No, this family was made up of wizards. Yes, _wizards._ I am telling the truth here. Honest-to- (Insert what you swear on here) _Wizards._ As in, cauldrons, wands, _magic,_ black cats, dragons, insane clothing, phoenixes, unicorns, broomsticks that fly, and all sorts of other magical things that you would probably identify with the word 'wizard.'And yes, I am telling the truth here. Well, the mother would technically be called a witch, but that's an entire other box that I don't feel like opening as of right now.

Obviously, this 'Dark Lord' was _also_ a wizard. Also something obvious, is that he was an _evil_ wizard. And since he was targeting the child, the child's family was most likely on the 'good' side. In fact, they were quite firmly on the 'good' side. Nothing would budge them in their steadfast hold to the Light, and the fact that Voldemort (why don't we call him Moldyshorts for now, it's more fun?) that Moldyshorts was targeting their only child only made that hold stronger, as a parent's love is the strongest thing in the world, with the possible exception of the love an older sibling can have for a younger one.

As this was going on, Moldyshorts (and we will continue to call him that, if only for the sake of just having a bit of fun while I tell this story for you) was going around Magical Britain, and killing a whole bunch of people, mainly those who stood against him, and did not confirm to his idea of a pure society. Basically, he was Hitler with magic. Although, I will admit that even the wretched ruler of Nazi Germany would probably turn his back on Moldyshorts, the villain couldn't even plan properly. The only reason he was successful for as long as he did was that all of his victims were considered 'less than human' by the government. Yep. Magical Hitler killing 'undesirables' (*cough* smarter newbloods *cough*) in what was essentially pre Civil Rights Movement Alabama. Yes, Magical Britain are idiots. Now, back to the story that I was trying to start before getting sidetracked with all of this knowledge that I had to impart on all of you. If you would like for me to get on with it, keep reading this. If you don't. . . goodbye! I suppose that someone who does not wish to hear this tale cannot be held here by mortal means. Farewell!

Now, back to the tale that I have been entrusted with sharing. Moldyshorts (I couldn't help but laugh as I wrote that, best of my ideas so far to use that name) was frightened that his essential rule of Magical Britain would be shattered by the babe. Which is an idiotic idea, how could a babe do that?

Well, it wasn't the babe that was successful in ending his four year reign of terror on that particular night. The father had been killed while trying to duel this Dark Lord with no access to his magic. The mother, however. . . she threw herself in front of her son, trying to keep her child from dying by giving up her own life. And it _worked._ The curse that Moldyshorts had used to kill so many others, including the child's mother, rebounded off of the boy, due to a shield made purely of his mother's love for her only son.

But this isn't _exactly_ where our story begins.

Our story truly begins later, although I think I must explain what happened to the babe after both of his parents were killed, as well as Moldyshorts dying (sort of). He was given to his mother's sister, a horrid woman, her husband (even more horrid then his wife), and their son (who would grow to be just as, or ever far more horrid, than his parents, had someone not managed to stop it).

Now, this couple absolutely _hated_ the mother of the babe that they were entrusted with the care of, as well as her husband, and the entirety of the society that the three belonged to. They called them 'freaks', although, once you hear a bit about the mother's sister's family, you will agree that the babe's family were certainly not the _freaks_ in this situation. In fact, you would be disgusted with _them,_ not the Wizards. . .

Oh, I forgot to tell you everyone's names, didn't I? Moldyshorts's real name was Tom Riddle. The father of the magical family was James Potter. The mother was Lily Potter-Evans, and the child, the child was Adrian Potter, although, due to some odd reasoning, many of the people of Magical Britain did not know that Adrian's name was Adrian, and in fact, thought that the child's name was Harry. Lily's sister's name was Petunia, her husband, Vernon, and her child, Dudley. Their family name was Dursley.

Why were they such a horrid family, you may ask? Well, I must admit that it is hard for me to write this.

Vernon Dursley abused Adrian once he was old enough to avoid dying. He would beat the poor child until his blood ran over the floor, and then, he would force the child to clean it up. He would force Adrian to do backbreaking tasks, and give him little food in return. Occasionally, he would starve the child completely.

Now do you understand why I felt that this was hard to write? I must say, I applaud Adrian on his sanity, if I had been in that situation, and he endured even _worse_ at the hands of that wretched thing, (Even Smaug felt that the crimes of Vernon were more wretched than anything he had done. He never actively attacked any very young children, as Peter was almost an adult in his eyes. And he actually felt _guilt_ about that. But I will cover Smaug in the future) I would have snapped like a small, dry twig.

On one day, the Dursleys were planning to go to the beach. They couldn't leave Adrian in the cupboard where they usually stayed, as he was at school for some of that time (Yes, in the Dursley household, Adrian, or, let's just call him Dri for now, slept in a tiny broom cupboard, tucked away under the stairs. And it wasn't even a comfortable cupboard. It had a small, hard 'nest' made entirely of Dudley's old, unusable blankets, and most of the cupboard was covered in blood. Dried blood, and all of it was Adrian's. Yes, I will repeat, _the Dursleys forced little Dri to sleep in a tiny broom cupboard under the stairs._ If you held any sympathy for them before, please let that go and use their pictures as target practice as much as you wish, or hunt them down. They live on #4 Privet Drive. . . oh, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned their address. Or that they live in Little Whinging. Which is in Surrey, England.)

Anyways, so they tried calling their usual babysitter for when things like this came up- Mrs. Figg, an old cat lady who lived a few houses down. Unfortunately, (or fortunately), Mrs. Arabella Figg had broken her leg after tripping over one of her cats. They tried calling everyone. Eventually, they just took Dri with them. To a beach in the Mediterranean. Yes, that resulted in them having to pay far more money.

Now, Vernon came up with an idea. He took little Dri with him to an abandoned beach, that all of the locals and tourists avoided due to claims that it was haunted. There, he took out his belt, beat the poor child nearly to death, and then grabbed a rowboat and dumped the child into the water, about half a mile out. He then rowed back, happy that he had gotten rid of ' _the freak'_ and went along his merry, idiotic, prejudiced, violent, abusive, and now, murderous way. Not realizing that the child was, in fact, not actually dead, nor did he realize the fact that what he had thought was a harmless beach, that the locals were just particularly antsy about, because of some weird coincidences, that meant nothing in his eyes, was actually part of the domain of something far more powerful than any mere _wizard._

No, this was the domain of Whirlpool Pod, one of the strongest Mer pods known to any, the perfect hybrid between deepsea mer and surface mer, the Changers. And Vernon Dursley had absolutely no clue that their leader had been passing by that beach, at that exact moment. Vernon Dursley had no clue, that his actions would set in motion a rather incredible set of events. Events that would shake the entire world.

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Thanks for putting up with me! Bard won't show for a bit. . .**


	2. Chapter One: Bargemen and Mer Pods

***Squeals* THANKS YOU GUYS! I had no idea how well you would receive this! Chapter 2!**

 _Chapter One: Bargemen and Mer Pods_

Aridai blinked as the boat sped off, the small child slowly drifting downwards. His decision was made quickly. The merman lashed his tail downwards once, fins propelling him forward, to grab the tiny (too small, far too small) child, and speeding off to a safer area. Only then did he notice the child was bleeding heavily. The mer leader snarled, eyes narrowing, thinking of just how much he would hurt the man who had nearly killed this child. Aridai looked at the boy, sighing softly, his face relaxing gently.

"I hope you don't hate me for what I'm about to do, _motek._ " Ari said softly, pulling in the power of the ocean around him, and focusing intently on the child, smiling as the change began. Incredibly wild black hair suddenly became slightly tamer, pale skin took on a healthy tan. Wounds closed, blood floated away. But this was not what the Whirlpool mer was focusing on. Something far stranger had caught his eye.

The boy's feet began to fuse together, growing bright teal-green scales, that slowly began to inch up his fusing legs, crawling all the way up to his waist, settling evenly there. More musculature grew on the tail. Fins sprouted from the stubby tip, as the tail smoothed to allow better streamlining and faster movement. The child yawned, sucking in his first breath of water, and opened a set of green eyes, shot through with the vibrant blue hues that found their home in Ari's eyes. Aridai smiled, and let go of the boy.

"Shalom, child. Can you move your tail for me, please? Oh, and what's your name, little one? I'm Aridai, but you may just call me Ari." Aridai said softly, eyes on the child, who was staring at the addition of a long, blue-green tail to his body. The child whipped around, accidentally sending himself incredibly close to the surface. The boy squeaked, freezing, and slowly floating downwards, relaxing gently.

(Ari POV) I focused on the child, swimming upwards to his level. Tilting my own head to the side, I swam under and around him, making sure that my work had been done well. It had been.

"O-oh, sorry. . ." the boy stated, and I smiled, shaking my head and swimming upwards to the child.

"No problem, _motek,_ I was just checking on you. Technically, we would be half-brothers thanks to what I did a couple of minutes ago. . . and by blood, as well." I stated. The child looked at me curiously, green and blue eyes closing in confusion as he tried to make sense of what had happened, and then started as he recognized the question that I had asked not a few minutes ago. The child unconsciously sunk slightly.

"My-my name is Adrian- or at least, that's what the teachers say. Uncle Vernon c-calls me-me just Boy or Freak. B-but I like A-adrian better." the child said, stuttering over his words. I growled, pupils slit, but frowned when little Adrian saw it as a threat. I sighed, and shook my head, swimming over to him.

"I wasn't growling at you, Adrian. I was growling at your uncle. No child should ever have to go through that kind of torture." I said solemnly, swimming over to the child, palms up and empty. Adrian relaxed.

"oh okay." he muttered softly. I smiled, sighing in relief, before frowning, my eyebrows knitting together as I looked up to the surface, dark thoughts crossing my already troubled mind. I sighed.

"Adrian. . . I may not be capable of securing your safety here. We are far too close to the humans that hurt you, they could find you and hurt you again. And I do not wish for that to happen to you, once was one time too many. Child, we need to find you a place that is far away from here, where they will not be aware of where you came from." I whispered, my blue eyes narrowed, and tail nearly thrashing with irritation.

"So. . . where should I go?" Adrian asked, and my heart broke a little, seeing those eyes nearly welling up with tears. This child was far too innocent and bright for the world he lived in, the world where a man could nearly kill a child, and then walk free. I suppose my time would need to be spent wisely, making sure that the man that had hurt _my_ little Adrian, my youngest brother, would never be able to touch water again, and that every day of his life would be _hell_ on this planet. But first, I needed to find a somewhat annoying bargeman who owed me a serious favor. And get him to repay that favor in full.

 _Treat this as a line break, because I have no clue how to make them at all. Have a nice day everyone!_

Bard the Bargeman (who would be later known as Bard the Bowman, slayer of Smaug the dragon, and the King of Dale, but that is a whole other story that starts in a comfortable hobbit hole in the Shire, and involves far more dwarvish idiocy then I wish to write) was not exactly the most organized of Men.

In fact, he was so disorganized, that if it wasn't for his daughter, Sigrid, then he would be poorer than the beggars that lined the floating streets of Laketown. He could literally never find anything. Ever.

Thankfully, he seemed to be the only one with this impediment, and, as such, could continue along with his life as if he had not lost several things (including three inches of his hair at one point. That had been an embarrassing adventure, and something that he usually liked to avoid speaking of in public.)

But this, this was something that he should have remembered. Because Bard the Bargeman was certain that he had not agreed to adopt a merchild at any previous point in time, although the elder mer that was holding the younger had a face that he definitely felt that he should recognize. Finally, Bard sighed.

"Alright, I suppose it _has_ been getting far too quiet in my home as of late, with Sigrid being nearly an adult now, and both of us preferring outside to inside. What is the boy's name?" Bard asked the older Mer, who smiled and relaxed, the child at his side inspecting him closely, and Bard smiled at the child.

"Adrian. His name is Adrian." the merman said softly, smiling, before nudging the child forwards gently.

"Go along, he won't hurt you, I promise. I'll show up for your birthday, and otherwise, just ask, alright? I'm going to see if the pod can move nearby, it might make coordination easier." the merman said, softly again, Bard noted, and the child toddled over to Bard, smiling up at him brightly. Bard smiled back.

"Big Brother Ari says you will take care of me from now on. Can I call you Papa?" Adrian said, and Bard smiled and nodded, before beckoning the child to follow behind him, as Adrian faithfully did.

"Sigrid! Meet Adrian!" Ah, now he remembered. Ari had asked him about this two or three weeks ago, Sigrid had loved the idea of a little brother, and he could support another child fairly easily.

"Ah, so this one is going to be my little brother, eh?" Sigrid asked, ruffling Adrian's hair and smiling brightly, hugging the small child to her chest. Adrian smiled and nodded bashfully, while Bard smiled again, laughing at his two children (dear lord he had TWO KIDS now and oh what was he ever going to do he could barely keep track of _SIGRID_ and now he was taking on another child! He was out of his mind! How was he ever planning on surviving for the next twenty years? Possibly longer?)

"Yes, he is." and with those three words, it was final. Bard sighed and rubbed his tired eyes, already knowing that the road ahead was going to be a tiring one. Adrian giggled, and Sigrid smiled brightly and laughed out loud. Bard smiled yet again, thinking that this was most certainly worth the work it would take to raise both of his children to be the proud adults they would certainly become in the future.

 _Basically, what happened with Dumbledore all the time that we have been waiting. Line Break._

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was not a happy man. No, he was not a happy man at all. In fact, he was absolutely furious. The Order had failed they had all lost sight of the boy, and now, any hopes of finding him and keeping him under Dumbledore's thumb were decreasing every minute he spent out with _kind_ and _caring_ people (i.e. people with morals) in the real world. He needed his pawn back, dammit! And he would kill anyone who even dared to get close to the boy. Yes, now there was a plan. Kill the new guardians of the child, or better yet, make them abandon Harry Potter, and then be the kind and caring grandfather that most fell prey to. Yes, that would work. That would work spectacularly.

Little did he know that there was a fly on his wall. Well, not a fly, and not a tiny person on a wall, either. The fae sighed, signaling to their other spies that Dumb as a door was on the move, finally realizing that Adrian was gone. No matter. It would be quite the time before Dumbledore would find Laketown.

The fae kept passing along the warning, however, and eventually, it did reach the ears of Whirlpool pod, all of which were prepared to fight to the death for their youngest Pup. Although that time would come, it would not come at any time soon, so all of the Mer placed their armour away, waiting for a chance to strike, to remind the wizards (that word was an offence to the magicals of any other nation) that they were most certainly not the top species around, and in fact, they were nowhere close. Not close at all.

The mer sharpened their swords, but stored them away, keeping their weapons clean, but preparing them for blood all the same, just incase some idiot decided that the Mer weren't so tough after all. They would have to remind the Wizards of the power of the seas, but they would have to wait, to bide their time.

 **Thanks to all, sorry I took so long you guys! Read and review!**


	3. Chapter 2: Little Brothers and Hobbits

**Oh, WOW. You guys are AWESOME! Chapter three for y'all, sorry about the wait.**

 _Chapter Two: Youngest Brothers and Hobbits_

As the years had gone by, Whirlpool pod had moved near the Lake of Laketown, and Adrian continued to grow. Bard took in another child (this one was not mer) named Bain, and the small family felt complete at last. Adrian was taught by the pod the best fishing locations and safest waters, while he in turn taught his father the secrets of the sea, and other, similar waters. (wow that was weird to write, Dri if you keep hitting Kili over the head I will go in and break up the fight, yes the Company and some others are in the room with me, Ari is making sure I get everything right, by standing behind me now, like Dri was doing a couple of weeks ago, sorry, the Company showed up and I had a hard time keeping them under control.)

The family knew what they were good at. Adrian watched as new members joined the pod, old members passed, the pod mourned. Even newer members were born. Traditionally, they would be given the names of the ones that had passed, as a form of saluting the old, and respecting their decisions in life.

To be truly honest, he wasn't sure why the Hobbit had joined the Dwarves. He wasn't sure at all. Nope.

The small creature, while seemingly peaceful, had the sort of aura around him that one of the smaller Pod Leaders would have, the kind that screamed to not be underestimated. Adrian had noticed the same aura around Ari, especially on days when the elder Mer was not the happiest, the kind of SWIM NOW thing.

That's why he followed them. He had been on patrol when the Dwarves had come barreling down the river, inside.. Well… barrels! Adrian mentally laughed, before flipping over, gliding elegantly under one of the barrels, his long tail knifing through the water quickly. The young Mer decided to have fun with the odd situation. He signaled a few of the other pups on patrol, and began circling the group. One of the younger pups swam up to the surface, silver blue tail showing ever so slightly. The Mer heard a yelp.

(Okay, since it's fun writing from Adrian's POV, that is what I shall do, you guys just roll with it!)

"What was that?" one of the dwarves practically screeched, and I couldn't help but begin to laugh, my teal and green tail, edged with blue, breaking the surface once or twice as I flailed around. A strong hand gripped the edge, and I froze, before smirking. If this particular being didn't feel like getting wet, they weren't in luck. I twisted elegantly, rolling over and sending the Dwarf into the water, before slipping off.

" _Cuz, not the time for pranks. I saw an orc pack up the river."_ my cousin, Erik, stated. The slightly younger pup had a look of fear written across his face. I gestured for him and Hermes to swim at top speed to the main grounds of the Pod, which they did at an incredible speed. I flashed a few light signals from the bioluminescent spots at the tip of my tail, and dove down quickly, the darkness a comforting cloak, shrouding the patrol from the surprisingly keen eyes of the Dwarves in the barrels above us.

" _Keep watch. We cannot be sure of what they will do."_ I signaled, receiving several nods in return. Esther sighed as she swam under in a quick darting motion towards the Dwarf still flailing in the water. Shame the male was wearing such thick armour, he may have been a decent swimmer (or at least not so close to drowning) if he had bothered to try lightening the load. Esther and Miriam (oh, my apologies, I did not explain those two, did I? Or Erik, for that matter. So, Aridai and his twin, Mordechai, each ended up with three kids- Miriam, Amitai, and Erik for Aridai, and Esther, Emet, and Nikolaj for Mordechai. As a note, all of the names are guidelines for the gender they were born with, Mer that are born into the species, and not turned, have a similar ability to Sirens and Selkies, our cousins- the ability to change our gender when needed. Apparently it was once used to lure prey, but I REALLY don't want to think about that. They're my cousins, because I didn't feel like calling them nieces and nephews, and since Ari and Chai are closer to my Dad in age anyways, I grew into calling them my uncles. Gradually. I'm not saying that it was anywhere close to quick, as it wasn't. I really had problems with the titles Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin when I was younger, it was mainly only after I really got used to the Mer pod family workings that I got used to calling people Aunt or Uncle.) Anyways, after that long explanation of the craziness that is my life, I am guessing, with my psychic powers, that you want me to shut up with the explanations and get on with the story (Just kidding, I'm not psychic, but it's easy to guess what people want me to do after an explanation)

So.. Esther and Miriam, my 'big sisters' and overprotective cousins. They have quite the amount of expertise in dealing with other species, however, it usually involves pranking (I am not going to mention the Elven Incident. Let's just say it involved Legolas and Tauriel helping us prank Thranduil. And way more special seaweed than any of us will ever admit to) or something else of that matter. However, this time, the two had clearly decided to be nice. Esther nudged the heavy Dwarf up, while Miriam steadied, and Nick rammed the poor guy with his shoulder, causing the Dwarf to shoot up out of the water, back into his barrel. All three of my cousins nodded, diving back down to where the pups gathered together.

" _You alright? Nothing scratched you too bad?"_ Miriam asked, finally sinking down to the current. I sighed, nodding at the eldest Pup, who had begun circling, checking up on each of the Pups, like she may have to do on a raid gone wrong in the future. I followed our lead Pup, finally swimming just short of her.

" _I think I should ask if you are alright, I saw that boot hit your side."_ I told the elder Pup. Miriam winced, before continuing to swim. Esther frowned, motioning for Dmitri, the healer in training of the pups, to check on her. Dmitri winced. I began to feel panic building up among the pups at that simple gesture.

" _Definitely bruising, that boot must have hit her hard, but she was sick beforehand as well. I'm going to get her back to the main Pod, Esther and Adrian will be in charge."_ the healer stated calmly, as if he was daring any of the pups to challenge his decision, which all of them wisely avoided doing. Let it be known that one never challenges a healer without the best of reasoning to back them up. I certainly wouldn't.

" _So, we steer these idiots towards Adrian's dad, okay? You guys all know Uncle Bard?"_ Esther asked. The younger pups all nodded empathetically (and when I say younger pups, I mean around twelve to thirteen. I myself was fifteen at the time, and am the third oldest pup in the group, younger than the other two by only a small amount, with Miriam being seventeen and Esther sixteen and a half. Mer majority would be a few years off for even them, as we are not recognized in the Mer community as adults until we reach the age of twenty-seven and stop aging. 'Teens' for mers are in between the ages of eighteen and twenty-seven, while pups are any Mer that is under the age of eighteen. We're the youngest of the pod, just figuring out how to patrol and hunt, which is why we're _usually_ given the easiest jobs.

However, this time was different, as there were obvious complications in the whole thing, for example, the dwarrows in the barrows (I am going to love that for the rest of my life, I don't care how long it is, that is hilarious), and, most certainly not the least important, the fact that there was an entire orc pack on the heels of said dwarrows in barrows. Now, this usually wouldn't be a problem, as we could typically send anyone on to Laketown and simply be done with it, although the Elves getting anxious about dwarrows that matched the descriptions of the ones overhead clearly undermined that entire plan.

Using the cover of the water's darkness, I peered up at the smallest Dwarf, and got a serious surprise. What on everyone's good green earth was a HOBBIT doing in a Company of Dwarrows? I blinked, information clicking into place in my head. The time of year. The recent activity (or more lack thereof) in the Mountain. The clear war party of dwarves. The fact that at least three of them were high class, despite the wear and tear apparent on all of them. The fact that one of them was a species known well for their ability to move with nary a sound. I smiled from ear to ear, almost sharklike in appearance.

Looks like Smaug might get some competition for that pretty rock of his…

.

 **A/N: First off, I am SOOOO SOORRRYYYY for the wait! Oh mah gawd, this chapter took so long! And I realized when almost done that I had switched from third person to first without any warning, so I had to add that, plus the fact that I had horrible problems with my Internet, and now my grades aren't too good, so I'm focusing on them. Sorry again, next chapter will probably take forever as well, and this story may even be cut short (as in I don't make a sequel or a longer fic)**

 **Adrian: Finally, Storm! This thing was taking forever!**

 **Me: Shut it, fishy, I can delete this.. I have the power.. And please stop being hard to write!**

 **Adrian: Ok, Ok! *laughs***


	4. Chapter 3: Not a Good Idea

**Aah! This took so long as well… Adrian isn't very happy with me right now… Chapter four/three!**

 _Chapter Three: Not A Good Idea_

"What were you THINKING! Miriam, that was a HORRIBLE idea! And it might have been worse! What if one of the younger pups had gotten injured? Wade, Wisteria, Katarina, Ami? Were you really going to risk their health, and your own, I might add, to mess with a bunch of Dwarves? Sometimes I have a hard time believing that you don't have multiple personality disorder." I winced, hearing my cousin being chewed out by Ari, her 'mother', who was quite obviously not happy about what she had done. I tiptoed around the pair of mer, and thought I had succeeded, before freezing. Aridai's eyes were on me.

"Adrian. Here. Now." Ari growled, and I slowly swam over to my uncle, who glared at me once, before huffing and waving me off, simply signing " _nevermind, you did well"_ with the light of his scales.

And I felt bad about it. Miriam was getting the blame for something that I was partially responsible for, and something that I should take part of the consequences. Reap what you sow is a good proverb.

I sighed, and swam up to the surface, before my eyes caught something that shouldn't be moving this much by this point. My Father's boat. I sped up, tail lashing down harshly, almost shooting out of the water in a glorious spray, but thought better of it, simply choosing to swim along the side.

(Alright, I admit it. I can't really write first person today, so third person it is! Sorry again for the wait, I hope you're not _too_ mad at me. Unfortunately, this will be the last chapter. But at least, it's complete!)

Father looked down once at the water, and the smile on his face dashed away the dark thoughts that Adrian was having. In fact, his Father's smile was almost always contagious, because his Father was a good and honest Man, and if he was to smile, there was most likely a good reason to do so.

"Oi, Bargeman, what are ya smilin about?" And that had to be the Dwarf with the little amount of hair. Adrian sighed, hooking his hands into the side of the boat, and Changing his form to that of a Man.

I should probably explain the Change. It is not like that of a true Skinchanger, with extreme pain, that is designed to increase the endurance of the Skinchanger. It is not like that of a true Shapeshifter (also known as an Apex or Tkarian Shifter), with the one, simple, fluid jump, that results in the Change, but it is closer to that in form than it is to that of a Skinchanger. Painless and quick versus long and painful.

The Change is rapid, and fluid. It begins with legs forming on the _inside_ of the tail, rather than a slower, more painful top to bottom change. The tail absorbs into the body, but leaves a covering or two in place of scales, in the form of pants. That is why many Mer look like they are wearing jeans in their human form, as the "jeans" are in fact made from very soft versions of scales, and blue is a rather common color of tail.

The absence of shoes is something that many Mer have attempted to correct, but many upon many have failed. They eventually choose to deal with the fact that they are somewhat like Hobbits in that regard.

The tails of Mer are simply not meant to have the footwear of Men, or any other race, or just footwear.

A tail, obviously, is absolutely nothing like a foot. For one, you can have _no_ feet and a tail. For two, a tail is simply not structured to be covered in confining leather, steel, wood, or whatever shoes are made of.

But I think that it's far past the time when we should be getting back to Adrian's story, no?

Adrian hoisted himself over the edge of the boat, only making it halfway before collapsing in a heap on the deck, short and messy black hair falling directly into his eyes, even as he made attempts to stop it.

"Hello, Father. Miss me?" Adrian asked Bard, who smiled again and walked over to his second eldest.

Adrian kept his eyes on the Dwarves, but allowed the Hobbit to come closer and inspect him.

"Who are you?" the Hobbit asked, and Adrian simply smiled at the older creature's slight shyness.

"My name is Adrian. And yours would be, Master Hobbit?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"My name is Bilbo Baggins. And thank you, for not referring to me as a 'halfling' like so many have so far." Bilbo said, and Adrian's face pulled into a slight frown. The Mer straightened, eyes on the Dwarves.

The one who was clearly the eldest of the group (and from the reactions of the others, he would assume the smartest, most likely by quite the large margin) simply raised one white (or maybe grey) eyebrow.

"Lad, I'm not guilty on that account, although all but Fili, Kili, the 'ur trio, Ori, and myself are, for what I know. Maybe Nori? I am not sure. Your father has also been good about it, thankfully. I'm Balin." he said.

"He should, all three of us- the three being myself, my sister, Sigrid, and my brother, Bain- have beat it into his head to call races by the name they choose to go by, no matter how popular the other names are. Hobbits are Hobbits. They are not half of anything. However, Shire Folk could be counted as a proper name." Adrian said, standing as he went to the helm to help his father. Balin smiled at him.

"Lad, a respect for others will take you quite a ways. Trust me. We're mainly in a bad spot because Thorin here can't keep his mouth shut around elves." the old Dwarf stated, gesturing towards the most royal looking of the Dwarves, who was now scowling at Balin. The older dwarf chuckled, but scooted off.

Later, Adrian would realize that he probably should have seen the warning signs.

Or, since he had seen them, and figured out what they meant, that he should have warned someone about what he believed the Dwarves were planning to do. Well, he thought most would realize.

" _Fire will bloom in the sky,_

 _Safety will be a simple lie,_

 _As you run from a burning Lake,_

 _His last breath, the beast will take,_

 _But a last laugh, the creature has left._

 _For anyone who is so deft,_

 _Their leader, shall be forced,_

 _If he does not reorganize, of course,_

 _To become like the other, not quite the same,_

 _And be the new one, after the last was slain."_

Smaug. That is what the prophecy spoke of.

 _As you flee from a burning lake._

He should have seen the warning signs, long ago. Warned Thorin's company of what would come to pass. But that would show he was Mer, for none but Mer and their close ones knew of it.

 _To become like the other, not quite the same._

No, no no no no! No!

 _And be the new one, after the last was slain._

Adrian watched with horror as the army of Dain arrived.

Thorin had become the new Dragon of the mountain.

And there was little they could do about it.

 **I am EVIL, and I will leave it off there!**

 **Adrian: Nah, you won't. You just started again with this idea. And after Don't Mess With Mama, you're a lot better at writing! Thanks!**

 **Me: No probs. Although, Adina sends her thanks for you of Whirlpool pod being the basis for her series!**

 **Adrian: Yes, you heard Stormy right. She's working on an actual book now, so she has a lot less time for us-**

 **Me: Nah, I don't. Besides, working with you guys helps me work on proper writing skills, so I can write this quite a bit for a while, and then return to Tides once I have more skill.**

 **Adrian: Stormy here is pretty young, so she's using Fanfiction to refine her skills. I would suggest checking out Tides whenever it comes out-**

 **Me: which will probably be in a few years. It's slow going, guys. And nah, I'm not here to promote my book, I'm just here to say that you guys here, reading Bowman's Son, helped to inspire me to write something official!**

 **Adrian: Adina will probably make an appearance (most likely a cameo) at some point.**

 **Me: What? She's my little baby, like Fenrir, Ariela, Antonio, and Ari and Chai are!**


End file.
